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Uniform heating. When you heat treat in convection oven, the temperature inside will vary somewhat (don't listen to people who can say that temperature inside is +/- 5F the probe temperature, in an Evenheat type oven), so to get to optimum hardness you have to do a lot of testing before you get a good HT recipe. Salts, on the other hand (provided you don't have any frozen spots at the bottom), will show temperature more accurately and heat steel more uniformly and faster. Devin told me that advantage going salts is about 10% improvement. The process includes tempering in salts as well.

Salts... absolutely no moisture on the blade, one drop of water equals molten salt everywhere from the steam release/explosion. lay your blades on top of the salt pot to preheat, and drive out moisture.

That's what I have been hearing from people who ht in salts. I was to bake the blades fora short time in 300F oven before submerging in salts, heating on top of hte tube might be a faster and more efficient way. Thanks for the tip, Pierre -

M

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.

To improve efficiency, I have decided to send out steel to be cut into blanks with a waterjet, though all the other processes will be done in-house, by me. Also, I finally succeeded in making polishing a bit more efficient, and that came after my latest cut to my thumb! Sometimes pain can be a great motivator.

I have a number of custom orders I took money for. These are my first priority and they are not many. I am finishing several knives at the moment and hopefully will get them out in the next couple of days. I still have some custom work orders (handles mostly) that I need to complete, before dedicating my time entirely to custom knife work (and some accessories).

Currently in discussing with a machine shop about ordering saltpods. Hopefully it won't be too long before I switch my HT to molten salts.

The DMT plates and bases are in works, most bases are done, some I already started on a finishing process. I will ship them out as I complete them, the earliest should go out this week. Pics shortly.

I apologize for the long time some of you have waited for a knife from me. The ride wasn't as smooth as I hoped, but I finally reached a good point where I can balance the quality of my work and the my involvement (labor and time).

Thanks,

M

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.

I think my new polishing approach will result in a finish that very close to mirror-polish. Water jet cutting is a must at this point, as my shop is in the basement and bringing in a professional metal cutting bands saw would be very difficult. Salt pods is also a stet in a right direction - faster, more uniform results.

If now I could only hire somebody to make accessories for me under my supervision ...

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.

There has been a lot of going on lately, so I will try to do a summary, but the list is long.

Current ProjectsGyoto Types
I have decided to offer three types of gyuto - laser, workhorse and heavy workhorse. Laser will have plenty stiffness at the spine, but above the edge will be pretty thin. Workhorse will be a thicker version of the laser and a heavy workhorse will be a gyuto in a different geometry all together.

225mm Ready-Made Gyutos
This project is in progress, finishing up two first knives. I was a little unsure whether to give them laser or workhorse geometry, (for a while I have been aiming for similar geometry as thinnest Shigefusa), so I settled on a geometry that is in between the two. If folks find them too thin above the edge for their liking, I will replace them with a thicker version

135-150mm Honesuki
Finally getting to this project. Cut and profiled blanks, will start heat-treating them shortly.

190mm ready-made gyuto
This project is on hold at the moment, but I will start on it when I free up some time (as of November I will get some help)

Custom Orders
Slowly getting them out, though most are overdue. Trying to make amends for the overdue work with discounts, and upgrades. Now that I closed the custom order list, it's a little more manageable. Still have a couple of really old orders but will clear them in the coming weeks.

Magnetic Strips
Producing limited quantities of these, mostly from maple and walnut. I aim to make them exclusively in domestic figured woods for sustainability reasons.

Cutting Boards
Once I get some help in the shop, these will become stock items. Walnut and cherry are current choices. Will add maple and smoked white oak as new items.

Strops and DMT Plates Bases
Same applies to these. It takes a lot of my time to produce these, so right now I only make them periodically and in batches 7+, but aim to have them as stock items

Custom Handles and Sayas
A limited number of these will be offered starting November 1st.

New Projects12" Scimitar and 8" butchering knife
Studying these knives and corresponding with folks who use them on a regular basis, to get a better understanding and to make a prototype and start from there - test the prototype, make corrections, make another prototype, etc. Over time, I would like to offer them separately or as a matching set. Other knives might be included in the set as well.

270 Miroshi Deba
This is one knife I wanted to make for a long time. Also, corresponding with a heavy user of this lengh knife to get a better understanding, and will spend some time studying this knife up close before making my own version in 52100.[B]

Heavy Workhorse Gyuto
I am currently experimenting with 2 geometries for this type of knife. Same approach as above, corresponding with heavy users of these types, studying comparable knives, producing prototypes and sending it out for testing and feedback. Prototype #2 will incorporate feedback and suggestion and hopefully no prototype #3 will be necessary. In any event, there is some time before a knife will get in a production.

Install-It-Yourself Handles
These will be semi-custom handles made with international customers in mind. As the name implies, these will be made to measurements provided by the customer, but will be installed by the customer. For now, I am going to do a test trial, to see if this concept works well. If everything goes as intended, this will become a product.

Leather Sayas
This is a new product I became interested in lately. I plan producing these in the upcoming months, as I need some time to setup a new workspace and to purchase equipment.

Leather Rolls
I need to spend some time on design of these (hopefully I can get some good input from you guys, please email me if you have some suggestions), but hope that withing months I should bring them as a product. The aim to make them more affordable than comparable products on the market and to design them to accommodate most popular types of knives. The design will feature pockets with sayas (leather or wood), and the knives will be stored with the blades in the pockets vs handles as on most rolls on the market. Separate rolls will be made for accessories and DMT plates.

Custom 11.5x2.5" 4000 DMT Plate
This grit would complement 1200 plate and 8000 plate and will become a stock item. Bases and felt strops will be available for this size.

That's all. Whew!

Thanks,

Marko

PS: All of these products are made in house by me. When I get some help, woodworking products will be made by my close supervision, but knives, handles, leather products will be still made by me. I intend to subcontract nothing.

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.